BELIZE CITY, Sun. Apr. 4, 2021– After more than a month of negotiations between the Joint Unions and the Government of Belize, the unions have rejected the 3-year, 10% salary adjustment and increment freeze that Government proposed as a cost-cutting measure to address the huge shortfall in the budget. The government is now looking at counter-proposals from the unions amidst preparations for the reading of its first budget as the ruling administration in the country.
According to Elena Smith, president of the BNTU, the unions met to cement their position after meeting with their membership. She said that they presented to their members an outline of the government’s proposals and provided them with an explanation of what is being proposed, and its implications, before asking them to respond to a survey.
Smith said that some of the members of her union feel that some of the counter-proposals they submitted to the government would have to be accepted and put into effect in order for them to be willing to suffer the wage cut. “When it is that you feel that you are putting forward something that could be accepted, at least by the majority, and that would benefit the majority and, you know, those are not looked at thoroughly, then it makes you feel as if though we are not serious about what it is that we are looking at,” she said.
Gerald Henry, president of the Public Service Union, said that his union’s mandate will ultimately come from its membership as well. During an appearance on Channel 5’s Open Your Eyes, he emphasized that the union’s members drive their decisions, no matter how many times they have to go back to them to get a mandate.
“We cannot make the decision on our own simply because we are considered the leaders of our various unions,” Henry remarked.
He also made reference to “additional carrots [that] were thrown in” — alluding to the government’s proposal to reduce the work-week by 4 hours and offer public workers a line of financing of around 10 million dollars that would be made available through DFC and the National Bank in an effort to persuade public workers to accept the salary cut. He said that they asked for a five-hour reduction, to make the workday a 9-5, but said that even if this is granted, an agreement between the two parties would not necessarily be a done deal.
The President of the APSSM (Association of Public Service Senior Managers), Sharon Fraser, has said that the members of her union are still not open to a salary cut. “Our no was a conditional no, “ she told the media, and explained that their “no” is not absolute, but is based on the belief of many members of her union that the government is still engaged in unnecessary and wasteful spending while saying that the wage bill is too large.
During an interview with News5, she said, “Government is asking us to cut, but yet they were seeing new hiring, they were seeing rentals, unnecessary rentals of buildings, they were seeing purchasing of vehicles, and they were seeing ads going out advertising for the increase of staff in certain ministries and departments.”
Following a meeting with government representatives on Easter Monday, the Joint Unions once again gave a counter-proposal to the Government of Belize after consulting their members. The president of the PSU said that the unions were disrespected by the Government, since they ignored various proposals that had been put forward by the union reps and addressed only the salary cuts. During a local morning show, he commented that the government was given proposals for the implementation of the Good Governance legislation and enhancement of the tax system but ultimately disregarded those proposals from the unions, choosing to focus only on the salary cuts.
The Government held a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, at which these matters were presumably discussed. These developments are occurring just days before the scheduled reading of the budget for this new fiscal year on Friday of this week.